Alford? LMFAO!! This, beyond a shadow of a doubt, put's lie to the theory of UCLA being an elite school any longer, in any sense of the word. This is a serious downgrade in coaching. They'd have been better off to hire Tubby. In 4 years, they'll be looking back at Howland as some kind of magical coaching TITAN.

I'm certainly not overwhelmed by the hire -- largely because I think of Alford as the guy who stunk at Iowa. But he did build nice programs at SW Mizzou and UNM. The real question is whether he can do it on the big stage against top flight competition. If he can't do it with the UCLA name and tradition behind him, that'll be a pretty definitive statement re: his coaching acumen.

um... yeah... i was looking for an update today and i was shocked to be reading about steve alford as a candidate - but then i realized, THEY ALREADY HIRED him. way to knock it out of the park!

i was reading an article yesterday by a ucla fan stating that the media was crazy for saying UCLA is not as elite of a job as UCLA fans think - and that he wasnt sure who was delusional, himself (and the ucla fans) or the media, but that they'd find out pretty quickly. i guess that cleared things up for them.

re: minnesota, i know they are nothing to write home about - but if you offer a guy good money and the AD does a good job selling the job, you can sometimes pull a rabbit out of the hat. minnesota does have good recruiting grounds and as the only big 6 school, should be able to get ample talent. its a huge university and i think the right coach could really turn things around - especially with a forward-thinking AD who seems committed to raising the bar. pitino to UK was a rabbit out of the hat, if you ask me, not because UK was no longer an elite job or anything like that - but because of the horrible, horrible state they were in. pitino was wooed and we had to sell him, and i guess im not convinced Teague has nothing to sell over there. he has great contacts and is well respected, and that goes a long way for some people.

Posted by illinirock on 3/30/2013 2:36:00 PM (view original):Alford? LMFAO!! This, beyond a shadow of a doubt, put's lie to the theory of UCLA being an elite school any longer, in any sense of the word. This is a serious downgrade in coaching. They'd have been better off to hire Tubby. In 4 years, they'll be looking back at Howland as some kind of magical coaching TITAN.

Howland wore out his welcome at UCLA. It's as simple as that. Everyone wants to bring up his 3 Final Fours, what a great run that was as a fan.

Since the Kevin Love season he has as many seasons not making the tournament (2) as he does Tournament wins (2). The biggest factor in his dismissal wasn't actually recruiting top tier talent, he had two #1 classes, rather it was connecting with those recruits once they were on campus. Losing guys like Moser and Gordon and then recent mid season departures of Reeves Nelson, Josh Smith, and Tyler Lamb made this a pretty easy choice for the UCLA AD. A decision he apparently made mid season and Howland was indirectly made aware of it.

UCLA should not be in a position where losing a starter to injury in a conference championship game leaves them with 6 scholarship players for the NCAA Tournament. His inability to properly manage and maintain a depth filled roster was the reason for his firing.

I actually am fine with the Alford hire. I had him on my top 5 list, ahead of Smart, before he signed the 10 year extension.

He is arrogant and brusque at times, but he is above average X and O and can recruit. If he keeps McCray, AAU coach from Georgia who recruited Adams/Anderson/Parker and steals Tony Bland from SDSU, his recruiting will be set. His top assistant will be very important. Needs to make sure he finds a good cop to balance things out. This is why the players want His top asst at UNM to get the job. He played good cop when Alford was a *****. I think that would be a mistake, but I couldn't care less about who UNM hires.

He won the MWC regular season and tournament for the #1 RPI conference this year.

For the record my list was
1. Stevens
2. Alford
3. Smart
4. Buzz Williams
5. Mid major coach with experience who had a tourney run - ends up being Marshall of Wichita St.

Chattanooga- has suspended it's coaching search until they find a new A.D. The A.D. post has been vacant since July, 2012 and was delayed because their chancellor retired in December. Their new chancellor just accepted the job and starts July 1. The Moccasins could be coachless for a very long time....not good

Posted by sull21858 on 3/31/2013 1:21:00 AM (view original):I actually am fine with the Alford hire. I had him on my top 5 list, ahead of Smart, before he signed the 10 year extension.

He is arrogant and brusque at times, but he is above average X and O and can recruit. If he keeps McCray, AAU coach from Georgia who recruited Adams/Anderson/Parker and steals Tony Bland from SDSU, his recruiting will be set. His top assistant will be very important. Needs to make sure he finds a good cop to balance things out. This is why the players want His top asst at UNM to get the job. He played good cop when Alford was a *****. I think that would be a mistake, but I couldn't care less about who UNM hires.

He won the MWC regular season and tournament for the #1 RPI conference this year.

For the record my list was
1. Stevens
2. Alford
3. Smart
4. Buzz Williams
5. Mid major coach with experience who had a tourney run - ends up being Marshall of Wichita St.

interesting. i guess i, like girt, thought of him as the guy who sucked at iowa... and the 3 times they made the NT, they have had some damn good seeds, just never did anything with them.

UCLA fan here ... initially underwhelmed by the Alford hire ... had to laugh when AD Guerrero tried to sneak in that Alford ran an "uptempo offense" ... which is totally untrue.

After further consideration though, it is probably a good hire. I have to get over my Indiana/Bobby Knight roots dislike and admit Alford has done a good job at New Mexico and has developed SoCal recruiting chanels. He's only 48, and his personality is breath of fresh air .... when compared to Howland.

Somewhat telling about Howland (and local radio was talking about this), none of his former players ... and I mean NONE ... have come to his defense. NBA stars Love and Westbrook ... not a peep. And the reason reported is ... that they don't like him!!

It has also been reported that SoCal AAU coaches and high school don't like Howland ... and Guerrrero emphasized that he wants to see better recruiting in local SoCal talent.

And yes, the talk of UCLA as a premier program is just talk. But they could be again. They have done a beautiful renovation of their on-campus Pauley Pavillion ... and then saw it sit half empty most of the season as students and fans alike never embraced Howland or his 4 highly touted freshman. Things had to change.

"If New Mexico doesn't hire associate coach Craig Neal to replace Steve Alford then there is a legit chance that star players Alex Kirk, Kendall Williams and Tony Snell will go elsewhere, according to multiple sources. Of course, players can end up reconsidering depending on the hire but this possibility exists. There are five reasons (and more) why Neal fits now: 1. He allows for continuity of the success the Lobos have had and the current culture at UNM; 2. Neal has been a part of every major decision in the past six years in creating one of the most successful runs in UNM history; 3. Neal recruited every player on the team and those committed to playing for the Lobos; 4. Neal is well-liked by the administration and boosters and within the community; 5. He's ready. He was a candidate at his alma mater, Georgia Tech, and hiring an assistant -- if it's the right one at the right time -- is more than acceptable at New Mexico."

Posted by patsrule755 on 4/1/2013 4:24:00 PM (view original):I'm still waiting on that usc hire. Right now the canidates are mike Hopkins and Andy Enfield they Interviewed both u have any other candidates?

I also read about Dave Rice (UNLV) but I don't know if he's interviewed. Tommy Amaker (Harvard) has also been mentioned

Posted by sull21858 on 3/31/2013 1:21:00 AM (view original):I actually am fine with the Alford hire. I had him on my top 5 list, ahead of Smart, before he signed the 10 year extension.

He is arrogant and brusque at times, but he is above average X and O and can recruit. If he keeps McCray, AAU coach from Georgia who recruited Adams/Anderson/Parker and steals Tony Bland from SDSU, his recruiting will be set. His top assistant will be very important. Needs to make sure he finds a good cop to balance things out. This is why the players want His top asst at UNM to get the job. He played good cop when Alford was a *****. I think that would be a mistake, but I couldn't care less about who UNM hires.

He won the MWC regular season and tournament for the #1 RPI conference this year.

For the record my list was
1. Stevens
2. Alford
3. Smart
4. Buzz Williams
5. Mid major coach with experience who had a tourney run - ends up being Marshall of Wichita St.

interesting. i guess i, like girt, thought of him as the guy who sucked at iowa... and the 3 times they made the NT, they have had some damn good seeds, just never did anything with them.

As much as I dislike Alford (being an Iowa fan), I wouldn't say he sucked at Iowa. He put together some really solid teams and most of his seasons were pretty competitive in the Big Ten, even won the Big Ten tournament twice. The guy is a heck of a good recruiter, but for whatever reason he just couldn't win in the NCAA tournament.

Will that trend continue at UCLA, maybe. If it does, he probably won't last long there. But I have little doubt that he'll continue building highly competitive teams there.